NIGHT time fares for black cabs in Manchester are to rise by more than 10 per cent - to help taxi firms pay for marshals at city centre ranks.

The marshals have been used since Christmas to ensure orderly queuing at busy night-time sites including Deansgate Locks, Piccadilly, Albert Square and the Printworks.

Now Manchester City Council, which has funded the trial scheme, wants to make it permanent - but is asking cab firms to help foot the bill.

Taxi companies are being asked to pay é158 each per cab through a surcharge on their annual licences - and the cost is being passed on to passengers through dearer fares.

The hike, more than three times the rate of inflation, follows massive increases on tram tickets and bus fares for the very young and very old last month.

The proposed increases, which are yet to be accepted by Manchester City Council, would see day-time fares raised by an average of 4.12 per cent. Journeys of three or four miles would cost an extra 20p, rising to 80p for a 10-mile trip.

Night-time fares, by comparison, would rocket by an average of 11.73 per cent. A one-mile trip would go up from é3.40 to é3.80, while a 10-mile journey would cost é20.40 compared to é18.20 at the moment. Waiting time would increase by 11.1 per cent, from 20p per 43 seconds to 20p per 39 seconds.

The increase would complete a triple-whammy for public transport users in Greater Manchester.

Reputation

Concessionary bus fares soared from 40p to 50p and at the end of last month, tram fares on Metrolink rose 33 per cent for pensioners and children, from 45p to 60p for a single. Most adult single and off-peak returns also rose by 10p, although the majority of peak returns and all season tickets remain unchanged.

George Simms, secretary of Manchester's Taxi Owners' and Drivers' Association, said: "It is not wonderful but at least this way we will have marshals round the year. Surveys show that drivers and the public all want marshals and someone has to pay."

Graeme Sherriff, from Manchester Friends of the Earth, said asking passengers to pay for security was "unjust".

"We oppose this move," he said. "Raising the cost of taxi travel discriminates against those who cannot afford cars and those who are trying to use their car less, especially given the recent bus fare rises."

The fare increase would end Manchester's reputation as one of the cheapest major cities to hail a black cab. Under the new scheme only London and Bristol would cost more.

The Transport and General Workers Union, which represents cabbies, said its members "strongly" believed the council should pay for the marshals.

Neil Swannick, the council's executive member for planning and the environment, said the marshals would become a permanent fixture as soon as the financial package was agreed.

"At the moment there is some reluctance among drivers in the early morning because they are worried fights will break out," he said. "The marshals have been welcomed by the trade and by passengers."